To Me, nevermore
by Anna Uzumaki
Summary: Earth, it was now a thing of the past. Now we travel through space in search of a new home. However, the path traveled is never the easiest, all because of THEM. On that day, humanity fell victim to what my father created. Now, we must rid the arcs of them before its too late.
1. Departure

**AN: **Everyone, I am finally back! And I have a new story for you all as promised! Sorry, for being aways for a while, heartbreak is a killer (laughs nervously) anywho! I am currently writing on my other stories as well, so enjoy this new story of Shingeki No Kyojin while I develop carpal tunnel! (runs off).

**Pairing(s): **Eren/Levi, Krista/Ymir, Bertolt/Reiner, Marco/Jean and other pairings.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon in later chapter, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language and drama.

**Disclaimer: **Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) © Hajime Isayama

* * *

**TO ME, NEVERMORE**

Chapter one

**Departure-**

"—_suicide! Are you trying to kill yourself you idiot?!" **** shouted the obvious, I knew what I was doing, but it had to be done._

"_There must be another way, just wait a minute E-" ***** pleaded from the more than destroyed control panel, the last thing standing between us and them, once it was closed… it wouldn't open._

"_Let me go, the others still need you. You… are needed much more than I am." ****** stated as she floated beside me. Heh, I can't say I'm surprised to hear her make such a statement, she was always putting herself in my place, I know she only did it to protect me, but this time… I would protect everyone else._

"_Captain ****, stop him!" Miss ***** called from beside the transport shuttle to the person floating diagonal from me._

"…_. Damn kids," He muttered and used the propulsion gear to turn towards me, though as he did his face was blocked out from the generator light, how I wish I could see his face one last time, "Eren…" He called…. No, wait…. It wasn't him… it was…_

"Eren, come on sweety wake up." The sweetest voice in the world called out to me, bringing me from that confusing dream, that same reoccurring dream.

"Maybe we should just leave him." Another familiar voice chimed in and that voice made my brow twitch in sibling irritation.

"Mikasa!" Mom scolded and I couldn't help but to smirk at that as I cracked an eye open and was nearly blinded by the morning light shining into my room.

"I was kidding of course… but at least he woke up." Mikasa looked bashful at having gotten scolded before turning the attention to me again.

"Mmn, I wanna sleep mom…" I grumbled and covered my face with my arm.

"You can sleep on the ship, right now we need to get going. The final boarding will begin soon." Mother stated and at that I really started and shot up in my bed.

"_What!?_ Why didn't you wake me up sooner mom?!" I flustered before practically flying from my bed to my dresser…. which was empty, obviously.

"Oh Eren, Mikasa and I have been trying for over an _hour_ now to wake you, you honestly are a heavy sleeper honey." Mom giggled and pointed to a jumpsuit slung over the chair in my room, a jumpsuit… it really was time and I honestly couldn't be more thrilled! But just as I turned to mother and Mikasa to shoo them away so that I could dress, I then saw that Mikasa to had a jumpsuit on… what the…?

"Um, Mikasa, why do you have that on?" I narrowed my eyes at her, just knowing what her answer would be.

"It's obvious Eren, I'm going to the training corps once we get there." Mikasa answered what I already had guessed.

"No you're not, mom, tell her-" I exclaimed and began to plead to mother before she held up her hand, thusly silencing me.

"Just as I had tried with you Eren, Mikasa has made up her mind and I cannot talk her from it." Mom said with a slight but disappointed smile before prodding Mikasa to leave the room, "now, hurry up sweety, we're supposed to be meeting up with Armin and his grandfather soon." She mentioned and closed the door.

"Tsk, Mikasa…" I clicked and quickly changed clothes, all the while noting at how empty my room was. Mother or someone must've already moved my luggage, or better yet, the people from the _'Civil Corps'_ probably already loaded it onto the ship… the ship, man, I have been looking forward to this day for five years! Ever since dad left to work on the _'Maria station'_, and now apparently thanks to him, the remainder of humanity could now leave earth… I can't even bring myself to be sad about abandoning this planet… it's already become known as the _'Brown planet'_ Seeing as how the ocean was practically gone now, and with it, all of the green life. Hopefully, life in these _'Galactic Utopia's'_ wouldn't be too bad, but from what father mentioned in nearly every hologram call, it was truly a paradise and even from the pictures he sent, I couldn't doubt him, it looked just as earth had at least 2,000 years ago. I just couldn't wait to get there!

"Eren!" Mother and Mikasa called from the front room just as I was giving one final look at my room.

"Coming!" I answered and ran out of the room with my pajama bottoms in hand, to which mother took from me and put in my travel bag, and with that, we were off, not even bothering to close the front door seeing as how we would never return. As we made our way down the main city streets, it was almost claustrophobic at how packed it was the further we walked! Ugh, just a little farther though until we meet up with Armin and his gramps, only then would it clear up a bit, seeing as how there were, from what I was told, ten different shuttles that were taking us to the main living stations, the biggest one was the utopia _'Maria'_, the next was a slightly smaller utopia _'Rose'_ and lastly the smallest, but by far not small, was the headquarters utopia _'Sina'_, which from what father said it home to most nobles, commanding officers and of course the king and the royal family. You would think that since my father was one of the leading scientists making living much easier and possible that we would be allowed to live within the Sina station, but no, the layout and rules on earth apparently wouldn't change in space.

"Eren, Mikasa, Miss Carla!" I heard Armin's voice sound out above the crowd, however once my eyes focused in on where he was, I wanted nothing more but to fly over to him and tackle him… and not a friendly tackle, because as we walked over to him, I glared harshly at him and the tan jumpsuit that he was wearing.

"Oh gracious, you as well Armin…" Mother sighed as we came within conversational distance of him and old man Albert Arlert, who didn't look too pleased himself.

"Damn kids have lost their minds if ya ask me." Armin's grandfather grumbled and turned to lead us down the street that would take us to a shuttle that would surely be going to the Maria station.

"Granddad! It's not so bad, I could be a scientist for all we know." Armin pouted from aside him, he had a point, but…

"_For all we know_, exactly boy! They could decide otherwise and put you on the _suicide corps_!" Old man Arlert thundered.

"It's not a suicide squad old man." I mumbled more to myself than anything, though he still heard me and gripped the top of my head tightly and looked me square in the eye.

"Your brain's smaller than Armin's, so I'm not surprised to hear you say that." He smirked and mussed my hair.

"Hey! I'm just as smart as him!" I exclaimed and knocked his hand away.

"No you're not." Mikasa joined in from aside me… the nerve.

"Well if I'm dumb, then that makes you just as dumb! Miss _'I wanna wear a jumpsuit to'_!" I narrowed my eyes at her before sticking my tongue at her, which didn't sit too well with her seeing as how she lunged at me, but I quickly hid behind mother, only to have Mikasa chase me.

"Hey, hey! Calm down you two!" Mother chided us with a light swat across our heads, which brought out light laughter in our little group, and with that we continued on to the docking station. Even from where we were, we could easily see the massive shuttles that would ultimately take us to our new home… humanities new home… for now at least. As we finally made our way to the docking area, we were lined up alphabetically for easier check in to make sure everyone was accounted for, I saw no problem with this, however, from the griping that was coming from the person behind me, he thought it was a pain… just from the sound of his voice, I already knew who he was without looking, and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to look.

"H, I, J, K, L… why must I always get stuck next to _Jäger_…." The guy next to me grumbled, at which I only smirked.

"Still jealous of Jäger, huh, Jean?" Another familiar voice chuckled from a few people ahead of me, and at that comment I rolled my eyes so hard that it actually hurt.

"Hey, Bertolt, you wanna shut up from up there in the nosebleed section?" Jean clipped at Bertolt, who only laughed, but even so, at that comment I had to fight hard on not bursting out laughing, seeing as how Bertolt was hands down the tallest of all our friends.

"Heh, that's not nice Jean, he's actually right you know." A smaller lighter voice chimed in from a bit further down the line.

"Oi, Krista, is that you all the way down there with the ants?" Jean looked over at her and squinted with a sly smirk, but it quickly faded as he looked at someone behind Krista, and as soon as I saw who he was looking at, I knew at some point in the future he would regret jibbing at how short she was or better yet, for winking at her.

"Yo, horse face, you wanna be down there with the ants?" Ymir mentioned with a stale yet menacing glare at Jean.

"Heh, oh I'm a horse alright and there's always a part of me that's down there with the ants, you wanna find out what part that is?" Jean mentioned with a mocking smirk and wink at Ymir, who looked as though she were either seconds from throwing up or killing him.

"_Mr. Kirschtein!"_ My mother's voice exclaimed at his statement, and that was it, I couldn't help but to burst out laughing and I wasn't alone, Bertolt and Krista joined me in laughing at the embarrassed look on Jean's face.

"Idiot…" Mikasa sighed and moved forward with the line.

"Jäger…" Jean growled at me, to which I only turned back around and mouthed _'what?'_ all the while fighting a face splitting grin. It was funny at how he saw me as some sort of obstacle to Mikasa, it's not like we're dating, she's practically my sister, but who knows what goes on inside a horse's mind after all. But that would have to be an inquiry for another day, seeing as how we were now the next people up for check-in, _finally_, we had been slowly inching forward for over thirty minutes now and the sun was now at its peak, which meant that it was now extremely hot, the ozone seemed like a thing of the past this day in age.

"Ah! Carla, good afternoon, you and your family are doing well I hope?" A familiar voice spoke to mother and ultimately jarred me from my thoughts, he was one of the Civil Corps officers.

"Afternoon Hannes, yes, we're all doing fine. Though I must say, I'm surprised to see that you're here." Mother pulled her long brunette hair over her shoulder and smiled knowingly at him, seeing as how he always made up some excuse as to not travel through space and make it so that he always stayed on one of the metropolises.

"Hahah, indeed so, couldn't talk my way out of traveling this time, it was Captain Levi and Commander Erwin who lead the dispatch this time around." Hannes laughed as he scanned our tags into the system.

'_Carla Jäger: Age- 41, wife of Dr. Grisha Jäger... Welcome._

_Eren Jäger: Age- 15, son of Carla Jäger and Dr. Grisha Jäger… Welcome._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Age- 15, daughter of the deceased Mikoto and Samuel Ackerman: Under the care of the Jäger household… Welcome.'_

Once the computer finished with our check-in, loudly stating part of Mikasa's history, we stepped onto the escalator that took us up to the entrance of the massive shuttle, but during the exaggerated ride up, I couldn't help but to bristle as I thought back to what Hannes had said… Captain Levi… I wonder if he would be on this vessel, I hoped so, it's been five years since I've seen him to, and to add insult to injury he was all that father talked about whenever he mentioned anyone in the Corps, he was now the best of the best… even in looks of course. However, I would've continued to think about him had it not been for something wet going across my hand, at which I snatched my hand back faster than what should've been possible, however, upon seeing what it was I tried to calm down… key word, _tried_.

'_Mruuwn *click click click*'_ A creature no higher than my knee tilted its head sideways with a moan of sorts followed by a few clicks, so… this was what my father created, a _CueVas_. It was even odder in person, it looked like something crossed between a human and a lizard or something, father never really went into detail about them for some reason, so even I didn't know much on its anatomy.

"Heheh, welcome Jäger family, I see you finally met one of Dr. Grisha's inventions. This is a #1, Cute isn't it?" A female Civil Corps greeted us and kneeled down to pet the little thing, which then slid out a whip like tongue from a mouth-less hole and licked her hand… man, this thing was weird.

"I don't know about _cute_ but it is… different." Mikasa looked at the thing with a quizzical look, obviously trying to piece together what it was just like me.

"Oh Mikasa, that isn't nice!" Mother giggled, "Give it a chance." She mentioned with a side glance to the creature, as it was now looking up at her with expectant eyes.

"Then why don't you pet it mom?" I smirked and pointed at the thing while slyly wiping my hand off where it had licked me.

"…. I-in due time Eren." Mother flustered with a blush, at which both Mikasa and I laughed at, as well as the Corps woman who righted herself, and just from her laugh, which was the equivalent of someone whom was taught to laugh to keep up with appearances, I could tell that she was an android.

"Well, this way please, I'll show you to your room." She mentioned and began to lead us down the surprisingly large hall, and even with the hundreds of people walking around it still seemed empty… I could only imagine what the Maria station would look like. After having walked for a good while we finally slowed to a stop in front of a pair of double doors, "Here we are, this will be your stay until we arrive at Maria. Ah, also, the Arlert family is already inside it seems, do enjoy yourselves and please remain in your quarters until we announce that you may walk about the station." The woman mentioned before giving a salute, which consisted of her right arm fisted over her heart and her left arm behind her, and with that she quickly disappeared down back down the hall. Once mother scanned her tag in front of the control pad on the door, they opened to a sterile looking room that was roughly the size of our previous home, with halls on each side, that obviously lead to our bedrooms, this shuttle was seriously huge.

"Eren! You guys are finally here, what took you so long?" Armin met us halfway into the room.

"Seriously Armin? Did you forget that all of humanity is boarding these ships, and worse yet they went in alphabetical order, Mr. Arlert." I mentioned with a sarcastic look and placed my duffle bag against the wall, only to see a CueVas appear out of nowhere, dart over to it and lift it onto its back with its long tail, then hurry off down one of the halls…. man, those things were going to take some getting used to.

"Uh, does everyone have one of those in their rooms?" Mikasa questioned as the CueVas skittered up to her and craned its tail with the same odd clicks from before… was it asking for her bag?

"Apparently not," Mothers voice answered from the other side of the room where she was holding an envelope, "it seems as though only _certain_ families will have them, or so this letter says." She continued and sat down at the dining table with Armin's gramps.

"And I'm guessing we're obviously one of those families…" I noted as Mikasa finally released her bag to the CueVas and watched it zip back down the same hall.

"As well as the Arlert's." Mother added and giggled at the groan that came from old man Arlert. With that we all fell into separate conversations and activities while waiting for the boarding to finish, mother and grandpa Arlert were, what it seemed like, reading and discussing the specifics about the Maria station, while Mikasa, Armin and me watched TV and played various video games stocked in the entertainment stand. Even the little CueVas was jumping and clicking whenever one of us beat the other in a game, we had at one point even taken to chasing the little critter around the _'house' _and were completely floored once we corned it and it ran right up the wall like a spider, but we couldn't even be shocked for long due to the shriek that mother let out and the curse that came from old man Arlert, at which we burst out laughing at their reactions and the CueVas purred and clicked from the center of the ceiling.

'_Attention civilians, Attention: The boarding process is now complete. _

_Please make sure all animals and hazardous objects are contained._

_Further instructions for takeoff are now being displayed via the control panels._

_We will be departing in 10 minutes, departure is in 10 minutes._

_Thank you and enjoy the ride home.'_

"Animals, so this thing goes in a cage?" I spoke aloud and looked back up at the CueVas that was now squatting on the ceiling, but imagine my surprise when it shook its head and pointed with its tail at the control panel, which was projecting instructions on what was once a large vacant wall, considering all things, I wouldn't be surprised if this wall could display almost anything.

"So, it says that these things will stick themselves to floors, walls or ceilings for takeoff… well, lucky them." Armin read the instructions, "as for us, it says we are to enter our sleep pods until we break through earths' gravitational pull and hyper-travel." He finished reading and turned to us with a shrug.

"Geez, this is going to be one hell of a trip." Old man Albert grumbled and lifted himself from the dining chair and made his way down the hall opposite of where the CueVas had taken my bag, and leisurely followed by mother. Though, as Mikasa, Armin and I made our way to our room, which held three pods, I didn't miss how the CueVas clicked after us to our room, and once there we quickly settled into our pods they automatically began to close around us and lock just as the automated voice came back over the PA.

'_Attention civilians, Attention: Please ensure all loose objects are confined._

_Please do not move from your resting pods._

_Departure will begin in 5 minutes._

_Thank you and enjoy the ride home.'_

No sooner after the PA shutoff, did we hear the shuttle come to life. It was a low hum, but audible none the less, and the hum was followed by the clicking of the CueVas, it bothered me a bit that when I looked up at it, it was staring me straight in my eyes… seriously, what is that thing? Its eyes are human, but everything else is like a two legged lizard.

"Are you guys excited?" Mothers' voice sounded and just then a hologram of her face appeared on the pod glass above me, which successfully broke me from the staring contest I was having with the CueVas.

"Totally!" Armin exclaimed, as his face came in beside hers, with bright eyes which were almost hidden behind his blonde bangs… hmm, time for a haircut maybe?

"I can't wait to see it." Mikasa said with a small smile as she and old man Arlert's faces popped up, making it a four square visual of them above me.

"It would be nice if they had beer waiting for us." Old man Albert chuckled and I'm fairly positive that mother would've swatted him over the head had she been able to reach.

"I swear," Mother giggled and then focused her eyes towards me, "and you Eren?" She pressed.

"Of course I am! I can't wait to see father and… hopefully see Captain Levi again…" I said and pictured the Captain just as the PA began the countdown.

'_Attention, departure will begin in T-minus 10._

_9._

_8._

_7._

_6._

_5._

_4._

_3._

_2….. 1.'_

And with that the shuttle shook slightly followed by the pressure of moving at hundreds of miles an hour, one would think that being in such a huge vessel we wouldn't feel it, but on the contrary if someone were not buckled down, they would surely be sent flying into a wall. Though, as we continued the CueVas purred and clicked from it same position on the ceiling, and even though I wasn't looking up at it… I could feel it looking at me.

"Eren, its staring at you…" Mikasa said in low whisper, having turned her panel towards the CueVas.

"Yeah, I know…" I looked at her screen and then reluctantly looked past it and up at the CueVas, and once I did it clicked again, sticking its tongue out… so, I stuck my tongue out back at it which must've excited it past the point of reasoning, as it began a string of clicking and purring, while whipping its tail around wildly. _'What the hell is that thing man…'_ I thought as a separate control panel in my pod showed us passing through the stratosphere... in just a few more minutes, like its' oceans, earth will be nevermore.

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**A/N**: Sooo... How's did you all like the first chapter? Are you ready for more? Ne? Well, lets see what the reviews say! (peace).

\- Anna Uzumaki


	2. Transit

**AN: **Here we are again with a new chapter! I have decided to post twice a month with this story (and work on the others as well). This one is so much fun to write though ya know! I just cant wait to post the next chapter in 2 more weeks! So I hope you also look forward to it as well! Now, enjoy chapter 2!

**Pairing(s): **Eren/Levi, Krista/Ymir, Bertolt/Reiner, Marco/Jean and other pairings.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon in later chapter, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language and drama.

**Disclaimer: **Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) © Hajime Isayama

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**TO ME, NEVERMORE**

Chapter 2

**Transit-**

After about a half hour of having been confined in the pods, we finally came to the end the hyper-speed, as it took only mere seconds to exit earth's atmosphere and even thankfully we made it through the debris belt, we were finally released from the confines of the pods. As the three of us stood to shake off the confined feeling, the CueVas flipped down from the ceiling nearly landing right on top of me and looked up at me expectantly.

'_Attention civilians, Attention._

_We are now on the direct course to the Shiganshina district of Maria._

_At 18:00 hours please meet in the Atrium for your welcoming._

_You are now free to travel about as you wish._

_Thank you and have fun on the ride home.'_

"Will you kids be exploring the shuttle before the meeting?" Mother asked from the kitchen just as we made our way back into the living room, and just as I had guessed, the large wall was now displaying a wide open prairie with long grass blowing softly in the wind.

"Of course! You aren't?" I clenched my fists in excitement, yet questioned her as she seemed to have another task on her agenda.

"Perhaps tomorrow, we will be on this shuttle for roughly 3 days, or so they say. So for now I will get started on dinner and meet you children later." Mother smiled sweetly with a quick look at the time, which displayed 2:37pm.

"What about you granddad?" Armin looked over to his elder who had settled on the couch and had begun flipping through the channels.

"And leave Carla here all by herself?" Old man Albert gave an obvious look of faux shock that Armin would even ask him.

"Just admit to being to brittle and lazy…" Mikasa jibbed at him, and at that both Armin, me and even mom had to cover our mouths to keep from laughing out loud at the look that crossed over his face.

"The nerve-" Gramps started, but before he could continue I quickly pulled Armin and Mikasa out of the house and into the large hall. We didn't need to get grounded and end up being stuck in one room for 3 days, we would succumb to cabin fever for sure! And that was the last thing that either of us wanted at this point, I knew that for a fact.

"Hey, we should find the others and explore with them!" Armin mentioned as we wandered down the hall with the other citizens.

"I agree, who knows, we might find others who will be going to the Corps trainee meeting." Mikasa mentioned. Geez, I wonder how many people we knew would be considering joining.

"Hm, okay, we should call them and meet up somewhere." I nodded and took out my holophone and began adding contacts to start up a group call.

"But where should we meet, we don't even know where anything is." Mikasa pointed out as we came to a stop at a four way fork in the hall… damn, she was right.

"Ah, look! There's a holomap!" Armin sounded out from a few feet away, and once I looked after him I could see that he was already on his way over to said map, "it looks like there is a plaza or something over in the center…. Oh wait! This must be the Atrium! We could meet there, it's probably the simplest location." He continued once me and Mikasa jogged over to him.

"Huh, looks like it, okay." Mikasa nodded and turned to me, "call everyone." She said, more like ordered.

"Yeah, yeah, I am." I waved her and Armin over so that they could be in the call as well, all together this would be a twelve way call, even though I didn't add that many to the call, but I knew that some of them would already be with someone else either way.

'_Users: Braun… Bott… Springer… and Lenz… available. Now beginning projection.'_ My phone confirmed and proceed to pull up a four square window, and like I thought, each window had at least two people in it, though we could only see no further past their necks.

"_Hey Eren! What's up?"_ Marco was the first to speak with Jean seemingly uninterested and staring off into the crowded background.

"_Eren, Armin, Mikasaaa!"_ Connie and Sasha both shouted in unison from a different screen.

"_Yo, shorties."_ Reiner jibbed with a smirk, followed by Bertolt waving and Annie… just looking.

"_Hey everyone!"_ Krista lastly greeted with Ymir resting her head on her shoulder.

"Hey guys, look, we were about to explore this shuttle before the meeting. Do you guys know where this Atrium place is?" I asked and switched the display to show them the map we had just looked at.

"_Huh, that's where we are now actually."_ Bertolt answered and looked at Annie who had seemingly taken to sitting down behind them, seeing as how she dipped out of the screen, _"You guys' planning to rendezvous here?"_ Reiner asked paying her no mind.

"Yeah, wandering around should be more fun as a group." Armin nodded and pushed my face from the center so that he was now in the middle, which ultimately moved Mikasa out of the screen entirely.

"Armin calm down," Mikasa pushed him back over so we were back to normal, "think you guys will be able to find it?" She asked.

"_If you're going to be there, then I'll go,"_ Jean spoke up and leaned over Marco, _"um, yeah, I'll definitely head over there."_ Marco added.

"_Yeah! We'll totally meet you guys over there!"_ Connie nodded quickly, _"right! It shouldn't be too hard to find, especially if there if there is food nearby, it's an Atrium-"_ Sasha agreed and began to ramble before Ymir spoke up.

"_Oh gods, piggy shut up… so Krista?"_ Ymir rolled her eyes and regarded her blonde post, _"Sure! It will be fun!"_ Krista smiled brightly, and I didn't miss the look on Reiner's face, he looked as though he'd just witnessed the best thing ever… and I knew exactly why.

"Alright, then it's settled. We're gonna head over there now, later." I nodded and ended the call after everyone gave their farewells.

"Well come on guys! Let's go!" Armin exclaimed and all but yanked me and Mikasa into a sprint towards the Atrium. As we ran throughout the halls, we noticed other kids our ages running about and younger kids with their parents, who looked after the other kids with envy. But of course, with a good amount of people running around, not only were a few of the parents looking annoyed, but a good amount of the Civil Corps Officers were looking withered as well, more likely because if anything were to get damaged or on of the civilians get hurt by running around, it would mean more paperwork for them and no one wanted that, no matter what job you had. After a few minutes of running, we tiredly slowed to a brisk walk seeing as how we had even ran up more flights of stairs than I could remember, and in all honesty I had begun to think that we were lost… that is until we started hearing more voices and even the smell of food, and after one final turn we were suddenly looking up at the sky… or rather a projection of the sky, there was even a large water fountain in the middle of the seriously large area, which was speckled with a few food vendors, hence the smell of food, and if there was food…

"I told you I smelled food!" Sasha's voice thundered from behind us, though as we turned around we saw that she was running headlong toward the open area with Connie in tow, but just as she blew past us, Mikasa stuck her foot out, successfully tripping only Sasha and sending her rolling across the ground, and at that neither me nor Armin held back our laughter.

"Finally… thanks… Mikasa." Connie huffed and fell to his knees, obviously trying to catch his breath, I wouldn't doubt for a second that Sasha had them running the entire way here.

"Ah! Sasha, are you okay?!" Krista called from a few feet away and quickly made her way over to the downed Sasha.

"Heh, serves her right for being such a pedo for food." Ymir cackled from right behind Krista, though as soon as Krista touched Sasha her face turned sour, which was to be expected.

"Mikasaaa! You're so cruel!" Sasha wined having already brushed herself off with little assistance from Krista and quickly stuck her tongue out at Ymir's jibe.

"Well, it seems like the loud ones are here now." Reiner noted from beside me, to which I jumped in surprise at, being that I didn't even see or hear him approach.

"Geez! Reiner are you _trying_ shock me to death!?" I hissed at him with a hand over my heart, honestly, you'd think that someone as buff as him would make more of an entrance.

"Aww, was little Eren scared?" Reiner laughed and picked me up into a bone-crushing hug and swung me back-n-fourth.

"C-can't… b-breathe…" I gasped out, this was a usual thing for him to nearly crush me to death, and one day he might just succeed. But just as always, right before I blacked out he set me down and laughed at my sure to be blue face, though just as he had did I hear a certain someone encouraging him to murder me… _shocker_.

"Please Reiner, please do us a favor and snap him in two!" Jean's voice thrilled from somewhere nearby, though my head was still spinning too much for me to see him.

"Why should he make your life easier by doing away with _your_ rival?" Marco mentioned with a hint of sarcasm, he like everyone else always lumped Jean and me together as rivals.

"Oi freckles," Jean stepped face to face with Marco, "can it." He warned which only caused Marco to blush and only brush off the warning.

"Same as ever, so with greetings out of the way, where to first?" Bertolt chuckled from beside a silent Annie and looked over the rest of our heads.

"I vote for ea-" Sasha giddily began, but was quickly cut off.

"I swear, if you say anything about eating, food or anything along the line, I'll punch you so hard you'll starve to death bouncing." Ymir mentioned and narrowed her eyes with promise at Sasha, who only looked like the saying _'a deer caught in headlights.'_.

"I don't see a need for wandering around, every hall will look the same after all." Annie suddenly spoke up with a bored tone, completely ignoring their banter.

"Oh come on Annie!" Armin side stepped over to her and grabbed her hand, "we'll never know unless we see it for ourselves!" He continued with hopeful eyes, though I might need to have my eyes check because I could've sworn his eyes literally sparkled with something other than expectation.

"Aww, come on Annie, how can you say _no_ to this face!?" Reiner cooed and squeezed Armin's face with one hand, to the point where he was involuntarily making a fish face.

"…. Fine." Annie patted Armin on the head, "See any good starting points?" She craned her neck up at Bertolt, who looked slightly startled by her just looking at him, "U-um, kinda yeah…" Bertolt clearly flustered a reply of sorts.

"So, yeah, that's a great direction! Ya mind saying it again in English?" Jean pressed and rolled his eyes as though he were asking for the millionth time.

"Uh, the viewing deck…" Bertolt scratched his head in apparent embarrassment.

"Hm, I guess it's a good a start as any…" I nodded and noticed Mikasa staring a hole in the side of my face, only once I turned towards her did she look at me as though I were missing something important, to which I only gave her a very confused look and at this she only shook her head and pointed towards the others in the group, and it was at this point that I realized why she was looking at me as though I was missing something… as I clearly was, I can't believe I didn't notice this when we all got here… "You guys have got to be fucking kidding me… ALL OF YOU!?" I nearly shrieked and glared all of them and their tan jumpsuits down.

"Eren you seriously just noticing these?" Connie gave me the most confused look ever and pulled at his suit.

"Heh, I think you're causing permanent damage Reiner." Marco chuckled and elbowed our burly friend.

"Jeez, maybe I should really stop." Reiner scratched his head in slight shame.

"Or maybe he's just as big an idiot as food-girl." Ymir snorted and pulled on Sasha's ponytail, who once more stuck her tongue out at her.

"I've been telling you guys for years that he's an idiot." Jean smirked at me, though his smirk deepened as I focused my glare at him.

"Oh shut it horse face! You guys are serious?" I clipped at them, unlike with Mikasa seeing as how she always did everything as me, but I would've thought that the others would've at least had the decency to mention that they wanted to join a corps… well, with Annie, Reiner, Bertolt and Marco it wasn't as big a shock, but the others… well, I guess I could say that I'm hurt that they didn't mention anything about joining, but I would never tell them how I felt.

"You shrimp! I'm joining to become a man that you'll never be, one that can take care of Mikasa!" Jean declared right in front of me and due to his half-foot of height over me, this left him to look down at me. Hmph!

"And you think you'll become that man?" Mikasa rebutted, and if I weren't already ticked off at his comment I would've laughed at the mixed expression that crossed his face from her comment.

"C'mon guys, no fighting," Krista pleaded and stepped between Jean and me, "we all have reasons for joining, so why don't we discuss them while we walk around… you're starting to draw attention…" She continued and grew a bit more silent towards the end as she looked around at the many eyes now on us.

"As usual, these idiots are like a circus act." Ymir cackled and yanked Krista under her arm, thusly separating her from us and blazing a trail for us to follow.

"Tsk, right, well come on then, I wanna hear your reasons for not mentioning this earlier." I stated and walked after them, quickly followed by the others. As soon as we made our way out of the atrium and down a surprisingly less crowed hall, I prodded the first person, being Krista, as to why she decided to join.

"W-well, since all of my immediate family is now deceased, I figured this would be the best way to provide for myself you know? I don't want anything too fancy, but… a life in Sina would be great." Krista admitted with a bashful look up at Ymir.

"And with that, I'll be joining her with trying out for the Royal Military Corps." Ymir said in a tone as though it were such an obvious thing… which in fact I suppose it was, seeing as how she would follow Krista to any galaxy and back.

"And what about you guys?" Armin looked over towards Sasha and Connie.

"I actually want to become a Civil Corp Guard, seeing as how half of them are now androids, I figured I could make more of a connection with people if they're being assisted by someone who can comprehend emotions." Connie nodded, seemingly pleased with the way he answered.

"Hmm, I guess that makes sense, I know most of the older people would appreciate that." I agreed and thought back to the Civil Corp Guard that had shown us to our room, as she too was an android.

"Good 'ol Connie," Sasha laughed and smacked him on the back, "as for me, I wanna join the Cultivation Corps!" She mentioned and just as the words left her mouth our entire party skidded to a halt and looked at her as though she were holding back the punch-line.

"You're kidding right?" Mikasa pressed and gave her a look of pity.

"Huh? No, why would I? I love food! So to be able to grow it and be around it would be great!" Sasha exclaimed.

"Uh, but Sasha, it's that fact that _you_ of all people shouldn't join that Corps… honestly." Bertolt looked at her as though he were scolding a puppy.

"Hahah! Seriously though! You'd eat everything in sight!" Reiner added with that boisterous laugh of his.

"Oh come on! I will not! I'm not gonna silently eat a cow in the middle of the night, that would be crazy!" Sasha defended… a bit horribly if I might add.

"Idiot." Ymir and Annie said in unison and took back to walking, which we all followed suit.

"So I'm going to guess that you guys are going to join the Royal Military Guard as well?" Krista asked towards Reiner, Annie, Bertolt and Marco as we entered a lift that would take us to the viewing deck.

"Well, I can only speak for myself, but yes. Like you Krista my reasons for joining the Royal guard are just the same." Marco answered with a kind smile.

"Hm, same here." Annie nodded… and nothing else. Geez, talk about stoic.

"Heh! Well not me! I wanna be on the front lines of all the action, so I'm going for the Survey Corps!" Reiner thundered and fisted the air, if I had bet a million dollars on his answer I'd be rich right now.

"Figured that much," I smirked, "and you Bertolt?" I craned my neck to look up at him.

"U-umm…" Bertolt hesitated and looked quickly between Annie and Reiner, "I… haven't decided yet actually, but, um, what about you Eren?" He scratched his head and met my gaze as we exited the lift and walked over to the wall of glass that made up the entire viewing deck, from here we could see every star and cosmos as we passed them by at a notable speed.

"Well, I wanna work alongside my father, but I also wanna work with Captain Levi… uh…" I furrowed my brows… even after months of waiting for this day I still….

"You haven't decided yet have you, Eren?" Mikasa's voice confirmed my thinking with just a touch of irritation in her voice.

"Unlike you, I'm set with a nice live working for the Royal Military… Heh, just like a kid, ya can't make up your mind." Jean scoffed and sat in one of the chairs facing the glass.

"Jean…" Marco sighed and sat beside him.

"Hey, I can try for both, I'd be happy to even get accepted to either one!" I exclaimed and stood in front of the glass, only to nearly jump out of my skin as a larger CueVas landed right on the outside of the glass, and from the shrieks and curses that came from my friends, they too were nearly scared to death by the sudden appearance. As we watched the creature on the other side, we saw that there were about four other people in silver space-gear about two decks down attached to the outside the shuttle, from that color it was obvious that they were part of the Repair Corps and from what father had told me, they worked alongside level #2 CueVas, this one looked to be about the same size as Krista, with both arms bent back like a cranes legs and three very long fingers on each hand, and crane like legs as well, this one even had hair, which made it even more human looking. Though no sooner had I made my observation of it, did it turn its head to stare me right in the eye, even ignoring the apparent calls for attention that the Corps agents were signaling to it, but seeing as it was busy having a staring contest with me.

"Sheesh, Eren, these things seem to really like you." Armin's voice sounded from right beside me, which thankfully broke yet another stare down with one of these creatures.

"Woo-Hoo." I said as dryly as I could before rolling my eyes and taking to one of the couches that Mikasa had taken, though I chose to ignore the disgruntled huff from the horse.

We probably spent a total of fifteen minutes on the viewing deck before setting off for other parts of the shuttle, we'd even ventured back through the atrium for snacks, much to Sasha's relief. After which we had ran into Hannes, who directed us to a few worthwhile places to go to, one being a room that was probably half the size of the atrium, but it was a fully interactive holographic room, we hands down spent over an hour in this room thanks to Reiner having chosen a losing battle of kendo with Annie, to which he refused to give up no matter how many times she took him down, he'd even gotten me roped into going a couple rounds with her only to be quickly knocked flat on my back. However, Ymir stepped in and after a few rounds, finally sent Annie being flip head over end and onto her back, thusly leaving Reiner satisfied and allowing us to continue our wandering, but after just a few more rounds on the ship the PA sounded, informing us of the planned meeting.

'_Attention Civilians, Attention._

_All persons are to now head to the Atrium._

_Again, all persons are to head to the Atrium._

_The meeting will begin in 20 minutes._

_Again, The meeting will being in 20 minutes._

_Thank you.'_

"Ah, it's already time for the welcome meeting?" Marco deadpanned and looked at his phone for the time.

"Aww, but we barely got to see anything." Krista pouted and, as usual, was quickly consoled by Ymir.

"Nice going holding us up meat head." Ymir shot a stale look at Reiner, who looked genuinely hurt.

"Ugh, I'm so sorry Krista, I'll make it up to you, I promise!" Reiner grabbed her hand in his and actually gave Ymir a look that had her standing her ground… a first!

"Hahah! I'll take you up on that promise!" Krista beamed and I'm fairly sure that was a blush going across Reiner's face.

"Enough of the lovely-dovey! Let's get going or we'll be late!" Connie exclaimed and took off in the direction of the Atrium.

"Come on guys! I wanna get something else to eat before it starts!" Sasha mentioned and quickly took off after Connie.

"Idiot." Annie and Ymir once again said in unison, though followed at their own pace with the rest of us right instep behind them. As we headed to the Atrium again the halls were once more packed with the other civilians, just the same as when we had boarded the shuttle. I wonder how this meeting would go, and who would be giving it, and more importantly how long it was going to be. Once we finally arrived in the large hall again, surprisingly it didn't take us even ten minutes to get there, we quickly found my mother and Armin's grandpa seeing as how they we seated with the Civil Corps agents to what looked to be the front side of the area, there was now a hologram being projected of a stage right above the fountain in the middle of the room.

"Ah, Eren and friends, come, there are enough seats for all of you." Mother waved us over with a happy smile.

"Thank you Miss Carla." Every one said at once and took their seat.

"Hey mom, do you know who is going to be speaking?" I asked and looked at the still vacant hologram.

"Hmm, ah, I'm not sure. You should ask Hannes, surely he will know." Mother mentioned and looked around, obviously looking for the man in question, though before she or I could continue looking through the crowd for him, the PA came back on.

'_Attention Civilians, Attention._

_The Welcome meeting will begin in 5 Minutes._

_Again, The Welcoming meeting will begin in 5 minutes._

_Thank you.'_

"Hopefully they make this quick, I need a break." A voice suddenly spoke up from behind us, and thankfully it was the one I was looking for.

"Yo, Hannes! Who's gonna be greeting us?" I turned in my chair to him now standing right behind us.

"Feh, it's gonna be three people to greet everyone, as there are certain things to cover. The first will be Commander Pixis, the second will be Commander Erwin and lastly Captain Levi… though I doubt he'll even say much if anything at all." Hannes explained much to my internal glee… I would be able to see Captain Levi… in a sense at least.

"Wonderful, Pixis will probably be too drunk to give much of a speech." Annie mentioned quietly enough that I knew mother wouldn't've been able to hear.

"Damn old man." Reiner added with an irritated look.

"Hey, you guys shouldn't say that about your grandfather." Armin whispered over to them.

"We aren't lying though, I guarantee that he'll have commander Erwin give most of the greeting." Reiner said with a knowing smirk, though before either of us could reply the lights dimmed drastically followed by someone yelling loud enough to bring the entire room to silence immediately.

"_QUIET!"_ A male voice thundered as the projector glowed a bit brighter, and soon displayed an older man walking out to the ledge… Commander Pixis, _"Heh, I thank you all for listening, now, allow me to introduce myself for those who don't recognize me: My name is Dot Pixis, the HRA in the Military force. You're honored to meet me, I know, I know…"_ He introduce himself a bit flamboyantly, from what father told me about him, he was very eccentric… I now see that is seriously is.

"Told you…" Annie mumbled, followed by Reiner chuckling.

"_Now, please listen well to what I have to say, okay!? I'll be the first to tell everyone here one major rule… no, LAW, that each of you are to abide by, there are to be no metal firing guns allowed from this point on, understood?! Anyone found to be harboring one will be punished as seen fit by the law and King!"_ Pixis stated, which if everyone took the time to think, it really made sense. If someone were to fire a gun aboard this shuttle or even in one of the Utopia's, that could lead to a pressure breach… which is not good.

"Geez, that's obvious enough…" Jean voiced my thinking.

"_Ahem, well, I can't find much else to say that the next speaker won't cover,"_ Pixis cleared his throat to capture everyone's attention again, _"I'll now turn the floor over to Commander Erwin and Captain Levi of the Survey Corps."_ He mentioned and disappeared, though he was shortly replaced with two other figures, one of which was almost comically shorter than the other and the other had some seriously bushy eye brows, visible from even where we were seated.

"_Evening everyone, as Pixis stated I am Commander Erwin and this is my counterpart Corporal Captain Reveille Levi, we will be in charge of mainly of the Survey Corps, however we will also be overseeing the all trainees who will be joining any of the Corps."_ Commander Erwin announced and if I had let my mind take over, I'm sure I would've shouted with excitement upon hearing that both of them, especially Captain Levi, would be in charge of the Corps training, I felt like doing a touchdown dance.

"Lucky you huh, Eren." Armin leaned over to whisper, and if I knew better, I would've thought that he had just read my mind.

"Yeah, _lucky_." Mikasa scoffed.

"You know it!" I said as quietly as my excitement would allow, ignoring the bitterness in her tone, though I would never tell him or her in a million years why I was really excited.

"_Now, I will being first by addressing those whom will be going to the Corps training once we land, as this is being projected on all three shuttles, the training will be held on the Maria Station. This will be a lengthy process for training, only those who are serious about joining one of the Corps are to come, if you have any doubts about join… don't waste your pathetic energy in coming to the training. If you come only to quit, you will not answer to me, but instead Levi will see to your punishment…"_ Erwin stated, which was followed by a low murmur amongst the crowd, _"that's right, quit at any time during the training, it is an offense punishable by law and the King. Cowardice is not something we will tolerate. Now, I will briefly hand over the floor to Levi for his input to the trainees."_ He continued and motioned for Captain Levi to speak, and unlike HRA Pixis, his hologram stayed visible.

"… _Don't come to the training constipated. I'm not you parent, so I won't put up with your shit."_ Captain Levi elaborated in great detail, and I wasn't surprised to hear some murmurs of discord within the crowd.

"Wow… talk about blunt." Bertolt chuckled, along with Reiner and Ymir, the others only shook their heads. But I couldn't care less, let him say what he wanted, he wasn't going to scare me off!

"… _Yes… ahem, well, moving on. I will now instruct you all on the disembarking procedure once we arrive at Maria, thought he station itself is very massive, we will only have one drop off point. This being said, if you are to be living on the opposite side, you will have a slightly longer travel…"_ Commander Erwin began, though whatever he was saying was lost to my ears as I focused on Captain Levi looking forward with the most uninterested look I've ever seen… well, aside from the looks Annie and Ymir usually showed. But even so, I couldn't wait to see him again and train under him for the next few months, or however long it would take, it didn't matter, as long as I got to be near him and nothing-more.

* * *

**A/N**: Another ending, but another beginning is only two weeks away! So until then, mata ne min'na! ^3^

\- Anna Uzumaki


	3. Homecoming

**AN: **Here we are at another monthly update! As promised it shall be a twice monthly update on this story, though I will still be writing on the other stories as well promised as much as my job will allow, though hopefully I wont be working there much longer. *prays* anywho, enough of the intro, please enjoy this chapter!

**Pairing(s): **Eren/Levi, Krista/Ymir, Bertolt/Reiner, Marco/Jean and other pairings.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon in later chapter, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language and drama.

**Disclaimer: **Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) © Hajime Isayama

* * *

**TO ME, NEVERMORE**

Chapter 3

**Homecoming-**

Day three aboard this shuttle and apparently we still had probably another day to go, due to a sudden ionic storm we had to pass through without any of the turbines to propel us forward, in fact, when we passed through the storm, all electricity was disable during the time it took us to pass through it, which was about two hours of nothing but deep darkness and safety generated light. And as if that wasn't enough, Hannes had informed us personally that the home stations had sped up in course for a few hours before coming to a stop again, but even he didn't know why and if I was being honest, that really irritated me, even more than that, our CueVas was once again on the ceiling looking down at me… as it had been doing non-freaking-stop. But besides that, why would the stations even move while the rest of humanity was on their way? It didn't make sense and it was something that even now, as I lay in my sleeping pod, I was thinking about, I'm sure it was nothing serious though… or was it?

"Argh!" I grunted and closed the once again failed call, I thought that while I was on this ship I might be able to get in contact with Levi, but whenever I tried, and boy did I try, his communication service was always set on away… perfect. I was so tired, both mentally and physically, mentally because of all the thinking I was doing lately about Levi and now the reason for the extra day added to our trip, and physically because of Reiner having dragged me back to the interactive room, where he and Annie went at it again, and like usual he had me spar against her, though this time I was actually proud of myself, seeing as how I has actually sent her tumbling to the ground… once, and _only_ once, because after that she came after me with a _vengeance_. Hell, I had even sparred with Jean and Connie a few times, Connie was an easy win, but Jean… he's probably the main reason for me being so tired now, we were evenly matched but he just wouldn't let us end things with a draw, but to my internal relief Mikasa was able to make him see the light and stop for the day… and with that, I have now confined myself to my Pod, I had no intentions of wandering around again today.

"_Eren, honey,"_ Mothers voice came through, followed by her face coming up on the front of the Pod, _"Eren, are you still asleep?"_ She called again in question.

"No, I'm awake." I rolled onto my back to regard her.

"_Ah, good, would you come to the living room, I have a bit of a surprise for you."_ She mentioned with that kind smile of hers.

"Huh? Okay, I'm coming." I furrowed my brows slightly and dispelled the screens in front of me and waited for the Pod to leisurely open before making my way to where mother was, and as usual I was followed by the CueVas, it was only me, her and it in the house right now, as Armin's grandpa had go off to the Atrium, and Armin and Mikasa we off with the others, probably in the interactive room _again_. However, as soon as I entered the living room, whatever the others were doing was of no concern to me now as I saw mother talking to…

"Father!" I exclaimed and ran to mothers' side and the hologram of father standing in front of her.

"_Ah, Eren! Glad to see you're doing well, you are well aren't you?"_ Father smiled at me before cocking his head to the side.

"Heh, yes dad. Just the usual wrestling with Annie and Reiner… And also being stalked by this thing." I shrugged and pointed at the CueVas now purring by my leg, though I didn't miss the knowing look mother threw father. As a mother, I knew she didn't like me fighting, but she also knew that it was competitor battles with friends.

"_Hahah, interesting creature isn't it?" _Father laughed, at which the CueVas began clicking, "_Though I figured as much with Annie and Reiner, I take it you guys are making full use of the interactive room?"_ He inquired.

"Uhh, I guess, but all it does is follow me around the house and stare." I grumbled and looked down at the thing in question, "But, yeah, well, the others are right there now at least, I'm taking a break before they kill me." I sighed and suddenly felt even more tired than before.

"You should be looking at that as practice sweety, soon enough you be doing much more vigorous training." Mother mentioned with a short giggle.

"_She's right, once you begin the Corps training you'll go through much harsher training that only Commander Shadis, Captain Levi and Commander Erwin can give."_ Father agreed with a nod, I didn't miss how he, as usual, brushed off my qualms about these CueVas.

"I know, I know! It's just _one_ day off though, I've been training for the past year. I'm ready." I mentioned with all the confidence I had. Hell, if anyone needed more training, it was Armin and Krista hands down.

"_That's my boy, hahah!"_ Father chuckled and mother simply shook her head, _"well, I must be going, Carla, I shall see you at home and as for you Eren, I'll see you after the trainee meeting."_ He stated, _"ah, I almost forgot, Eren, Levi wanted me to tell you hello and that he'll see you at the trainee meeting."_ He added to my silent shock of happiness, to which I tried my dammedest to simply nod nonchalantly and only after receiving our goodbye's, his hologram flitted away.

"Uuughh! Why can't we be at Maria already?" I groaned and went to flop down on the couch, writhing with new anticipation at having a message from Levi delivered to me.

"Oh Eren, it's not so bad. Just remember, we're starting life anew," Mother kneeled in front of me and placed her hand on my head, "and you're going to help make that possible, right?" She continued with a motherly smile.

"Hahah! Right! I'll protect you and make life easier for everyone!" I grinned with excitement, at which mother giggled at and the CueVas purred and clicked. It was already clear to see that this one pretty much understood everything going on around it, but even still, once we landed I would confront father and get some answers out of him as to what these creatures were. Hmm, even if he doesn't tell me, seeing as how Armin wants to join the Bio Corps, I'm pretty sure he could get the answers for me. Well, I guess I can only cross that bridge once I get to it, as for now or rather the remainder of the ship I would just spend this time with mother… and the CueVas.

'_I'm - Y-r, A-e, R-r, B-t… Eren, but this - - be done!' Father's voice said in a panic, though I could barely hear him due to the loud alarms going off._

'_What?" I yelled just as something in the lab exploded, sending me and four other people flying into the malfunctioning exit door, followed by a choking smoke._

'_Aaaahhhhh!' A familiar deep voice yelled in clear pain from beside me, but before I could turn to him, two female voices cried out in agony as well._

'_Doctor… w-why…' Another familiar male voice grunted from my other side… what in the hell was going on?!_

'_F-father, it hurts… I can't see… help!' I cried out on the ground in a sudden burst of the worst pain ever._

'_Forgive me…' Fathers' voice cracked from faraway, though it was almost lost within the sounds of the alarm and…. clicking? What in the hell?_

'_Mruuwn *click click click*' _

"Huh…?" I cracked my eye open, only to be looking into another pair of green eyes.

'_Mruuwn *click click click*'_

"It's been doing that ever since we woke up…" Armin's voice mentioned from a few feet away.

"You okay Eren, you're crying." Mikasa questioned next.

"What?" I sat up and wiped at my eyes, where there were traces of tears left, "What… was I asleep?" I furrowed my brows and looked at the CueVas as it licked my tear stained hand.

"Yes, honey, you fell asleep after Hannes came by," Mother answered from the dining table, "though that _was_ a few hours ago." She giggled and cleared away a cup in front of old man Arlert.

"Ya sure can sleep through anything boy." Armin's grandpa chuckled.

"Y-yeah… wait, what did I sleep through?" I looked at him in utter confusion.

"Hm? Don't you recall what Hannes said Eren?" Mother tilted her head at me, "we are arriving at Maria, the PA confirmed that about ten minutes ago." She stated much to my apparent shock.

"Seriously!? But, I thought it was going to take another day for us to get there…?" I exclaimed and look into the worried faces of those around me.

"Eren, this is the fourth day that we've been on the shuttle…" Armin mentioned and looked at me with genuine concern… wait, what?

"Ey Carla, ya boy doesn't have some kinda space fever does he?" Old man Albert looked at mother with acute seriousness.

"Eren, are you feeling alright?" Mother came to settle beside me on the couch and placed her hand on my forehead.

"…Heh, I'm alright mom, I guess I'm just confused from having slept so long." I chuckled and nonchalantly brushed her hand away, and just as I had the PA came on.

'_Attention Civilians, Attention._

_We are now arriving at the Maria Station._

_In an alphabetical fashion, please make your way to the exit dock._

_Again, please make your way to the exit dock._

_Thank you and welcome home.'_

"Sheesh, finally…" Mikasa sighed as she stood with her duffle-bag already over her shoulder, crap, now it was gonna take me a few minutes to get my bag packed. Though, no sooner had I realized that, did the CueVas begin purring again and once I looked at it I was silently shock to see that it had my duffle-bag hanging from its tail.

"Uhh… thanks…?" I mumbled and took my bag from it, "did you pack my bag mom…?" I glanced at her and noticed that she was looking at the creature with both brows raised.

"No sweety… I think the CueVas did…" She answered and slowly removed herself from the couch and grabbed her bag, "w-well, let's get going everyone." She continued and headed to the door where old man Albert and Armin had exited right after the announcement, and without anything else being said, aside from the creature purring, we left our room and filed into the hall with the others and it was at this time that I saw only a few other families with CueVas following after them, even ours. Even a short ways ahead of us I could see Bertolt, thanks to his height, and surprisingly there was one actually crouched on his shoulder, hmm, I had forgotten to ask the others if they had one of these creatures as well… though I suppose I'll have that chance once we get to the trainee meeting.

Man, if I thought that the boarding process had been a long one, it was _nowhere near_ as long as the disembarking procedure, and it was just getting off that was the hard part. But once we were _finally_ off and officially entered into Maria I was completely floored to what I saw and I'm positive that nearly everyone else was as well from the awed gasps and murmurs that intensified as they entered. I could hardly believe it, it was almost as though we had gone back in time and landed on a past earth, the sky was obviously a hologram of about noon, but what stood out the most was the sheer size of this place, if I didn't know better I would never guess that we were aboard a space station. There were tall buildings, trees, flowers and even birds! As we finally walked out of the airport like transit way, there were many of the passengers' hover-cars awaiting them, this was probably the main reason that they wanted everyone to board and exit in alphabetical order, so that when we got off of the shuttle everyone would leave without much hassle…. pretty smart actually.

"This place is amazing!" I heard Armin yelled out of his grandpa's car window as they drove past us, as we had loaded into separate cars.

"It really is, makes it hard to believe that we're on a space station." Mikasa mentioned as we pulled off.

"I guess dad wasn't fibbing when he said these stations were Utopia's." I said as we drove through the city and passed others walking along the streets, going on about their daily routine. Five years ago about half of humanity, mainly steel workers and those who were needed to get things in order on these Utopia's, we sent here before everyone, so they and their families were already accustomed to this. Though why mother had decided to stay behind during that time instead of taking us and leaving with father was still something that she wouldn't tell me, and at times I think that it's because father wanted us to stay back until everything was good to go… but still, ever since father left and began working out here there are many things that I feel he is keeping from us about his work… and even more so about these CueVas, ours of course was seated beside me, as Mikasa had quickly claimed the passenger seat, I thought I was being sly when I looked over at it from the corner of my eye, but this thing looked as though it were waiting for me to look at it, cause no sooner had I, did it start it's string of purring and clicking… maybe I should give thing a name since it will be living with us from now on.

"Alright you two, we're here." Mom announced after about a twenty minute drive and pulled up to a surprisingly lavish looking house. No doubt given to us because of fathers position and I wasn't gonna argue against that, "you two should get ready quickly, your meeting starts at noon and it's already 10:33(am)." Mother mentioned as she scanned he badge which would serve as the key and walked into the house.

"Wow, this place is huge!" I exclaimed and tapped a panel on the wall to turn the lights on, though at the same time the projection that served as the TV on as well… odd, I know I didn't turn that on.

"Hey, there's a message on the screen from father." Mikasa pointed out as she had already made her way over to the couch, to which I followed suit if buddy hadn't stopped dead in front of me.

"Hmm? Let's see," Mother stepped around the CueVas that had taken to being in the middle of the room and looking down the left-side hall, "… ah, it seems as though he'll be seeing you two earlier than planned. He'll be administering physicals after the meeting for the trainee's today… also, there's a surprise here for all of us…" Mother read and I would've voiced my happiness if it hadn't been for the CueVas suddenly purring and clicking louder than I'd ever heard and even whipping its tail around rapidly and smacking against my legs.

"Geez, what's with you bud-" I began to speak, but cut myself off as I heard a second string of deeper clicks coming from behind me. But before I could even turn around I saw mother and Mikasa's expressions, it was as though they'd seen a ghost… which made me a bit hesitant to turn around, but once I did I took a shocked step back and tripped over the now silent #1 CueVas and stared up at the most… _human_ looking CueVas ever, even more so than the one I had seen of the outside of the shuttle, "m-mom… w-what is this…." I stuttered and continued to have a staring contest with the new CueVas above me.

"I-I don't know… Grisha said t-there was a surprise but… good heavens, what is that man doing…" Mother said just above a whisper.

"Uh… was the surprise a visit to the hospital due to heart attacks?" Mikasa said in an oddly calm voice. But before I could say anything as I was trying to will my body to move, the new CueVas suddenly extended its long arm towards me… was it trying to help me up? And just like with the #1 CueVas, as soon as I thought that both the creatures nodded their heads… well.

"Um, t-thanks…" I mumbled and took its hand to stand, "…. Uh, what are you?" I asked it, feeling more than stupid for even doing so, this thing was about the same height as Ymir and probably the same build as her, minus the crane like legs and the extra-long arms, though it was hard to tell whether it was male or female, and like the last one I saw on the shuttle, this one had long brown hair… like mothers' except unlike mother who kept hers in an over the shoulder ponytail, this one's hair hung straight down its back. However, after my quick observation, to our surprise it held up one hand and raised one long finger on the other hand in answer to my question.

"Four?" Mother deadpanned and I turned to see that she had taken to sitting on the couch, "that can't be… Grisha only informed us that they had only designed three levels…" She said in a voice that was more to herself than to us. However, the larger CueVas gave two quick clicks before walking over to the display where father's note was and brought up a new blank screen and began to type something.

"_I the only 4."_ Mikasa read aloud, to which the CueVas whipped around to face her and nod.

"Why is that?" Mother questioned it head on, seemingly having found her focus now, and in response the #4 began typing again.

"_I serve you. Help you. Protect you. Make living better. Surprise."_ Mikasa read again, "… Hm, so much for its literary skills." She mumbled afterwards, though it didn't go unheard by the #4, which actually gave her a sad look and typed again, _"Teach me. I learn."_ She read and surprisingly looked embarrassed.

"My, my… this is a surprise indeed." Mother exhaled and removed herself from the couch, "W-well, I suppose it's nice to meet you." She waved at it, to which the #4 looked at its own and then held it up to mimic the action. At this the #1 began to jump in place and click, and as it did my phone started to buzz and ring loudly, causing the creatures to look at me with tilted heads as I answered the hologram call from Bertolt.

"_Hey, Eren, you and Mikasa headed to the meeting yet?"_ Bertolt questioned as his background moved fairly quick around him.

"Ah, shoot, yeah! We're heading out now, how are you getting there?" I smacked my forehead and regarded mother with a wave of my hand as I rushed upstairs with Mikasa right in step behind me.

"_By jetpack of course! Half of our group is already at the site, so you two put some hustle in your bustle!"_ Bertolt laughed, having briefly showed off a new jetpack… lucky. Though as soon as I entered my marked room, I was all too thrilled to see that I had one hung on the wall with an over the top bow on it.

"Aww score! Dad got me one to!" I fisted the air with my free hand and flipped the screen around to show it off.

"_That's awesome! Well hurry up and put it to use! I'll see you guys soon."_ He grinned and after giving my farewell we ended the call. With that done I quickly ran to my personal bathroom and flew out of the sweat-suit that I had on and jumped into the shower, which lasted all of about five minutes due to haste, I didn't even take time to dry my hair, which was normally the same brown as mother, but now that it was wet it looked as black as Mikasa's. After I was done toweling myself, I quickly dawned on my tan jumpsuit and grabbed my new jetpack, "C'mon Mikasa!" I yelled as I ran out of my room and ran right into her as she ran out of her room across the hall, "Shit!" I grunted and grabbed my nose.

"Nice going Eren." Mikasa rubbed her cheek and picked up her obviously new jetpack as well before grabbing my hand and running back down the stairs.

"Alright mom, we're off! We'll be back ASAP!" I yelled as we slid on our knee high dark brown boots that went with the jumpsuits.

"Good luck you two!" Mother called from somewhere down the hall followed by the deep clicking of the #4, though the #1 felt the need to come sprinting down the hall and stoped right at my feet with many clicks and purrs, "heh, see ya bud!" I smiled at it and quickly petted it on the head, to which it then looked up at Mikasa, seemingly wanting the same from her.

"Uh, later…" Mikasa hesitated but calmly reached down to pet it, at which it jumped up and down with a string of clicks. And with that we were out the door, and quickly fastened ourselves to our jetpacks, and with one last press of a button we were shooting up and through the air, going just high enough not to fly into the trees', as for the buildings, well, we would just have to maneuver around those for now. Which wasn't too hard, seeing as how back on earth we would often play chicken with flying close enough to touch the buildings, and even did so in the forest where the trees' were less spaced, however, as I thought back to those days, a familiar voice screamed with excitement.

"Yahoo!" Sasha yelled and literally twirled past us, _"c'mon you guys! Keep up!"_ She spoke though the mic system on the jetpacks and looped in the air.

"_Geez, she's gonna kill herself one of these days."_ Connie's voice came through next and right after he came up to speed with us.

"Connie, you really should keep a better eye on your girlfriend." Mikasa commented with an entertained smirk.

"Oi! She's not my girlfriend!" Connie defended with a visible blush.

"_Don't deny it now baldy!"_ Jean's voice came through the mic next followed by him coming up through the trees ahead of us, roughly to where Sasha was.

"Shut it horse face!" Connie snapped with a victorious smirk.

"Idiots." Mikasa sighed.

"Tsk, Jäger…" Jean growled as usual.

"Hahah! Oh c'mon Jean, I haven't even said anything!" I laughed.

"_Heeeyy! Wait up!"_ Armin's voice yelled through the mic, and as I flipped over to look behind me I saw him closing in quickly… and he wasn't stopping… I could see where this was going.

"You're not fooling me Armin! If it's a race you want, then you got it!" I yelled into the mic and quickly flipped back over and sped up.

"Heh, this will be an easy win." Mikasa huffed and caught back up with me, and with that all of us were zipping through the Utopia and winding in between the buildings. We were all for the most part keeping up with each other, but somehow right when we came up on the Corps headquarters, Jean gave one last sudden burst of speed and skidded to a stop right at the entrance to the building, I was actually surprised that he hadn't sent himself flying through the doors though.

"Hell yeah! Take that Jäger!" Jean smirked and undid his jetpack.

"Hey, you know you beat Mikasa to, how mean." I smirked right back at him and fought back my laugh as a look of realization melted across his face.

"Don't worry Jean, you won't win next time." Mikasa gave him a small smile, at that Jean blushed so hard that I thought he might pass out.

"Yo! You guys better hurry up!" Reiner's voice boomed from across the courtyard, and once we glance at our watches which read 11:38(am) we hung our packs and sprinted over to where a mass of other people were gathered. There were probably about 200 people gathered here, which really didn't mean much, cause at any point someone could decide against joining before becoming an official trainee. There were even some other people our age that we had gone to school with back on earth… it seemed as if everyone was choosing to go to a Corp… but even so, I wonder how many would even make it.

"Eren." Mikasa's voice brought me from my wandering thoughts.

"What?" I looked over to her to see her looking at me with a stoic look.

"Have you decided yet?" She questioned and without anything else needed to be said, I already knew exactly what she was talking about.

"…. Haa, I… still don't know yet," I scratched my head, "I mean, I would love to work alongside father, but… I also wanna work alongside Levi and help pave a way for humanity." I explained what I had been thinking over even more the past few days.

"Hmm." She nodded and looked away.

"What about you?" I raised my brow at her, as she never really made it clear as to which branch she would join… though, if I knew Mikasa, her answer would be…

"I'll follow wherever you go, Eren." She answered as I knew she would.

"Tsk, Mikasa-" I began to speak, but a voice coming over a microphone cut me off… and it wasn't a very pleasing voice either.

"Alright you little shits', listen up!" Commander Shadis, I knew it was him from the attitude and bald head, yelled and looked over the mass before him that quickly fell silent as he ordered, "Good to see that you spineless bastards can follow simple commands! That will be a key factor while you are in training, and depending on which branch you wiggle your grubby asses into it will be even more _pertinent_ that you follow the orders given to you… it could save your life! Do you understand me!?" He thundered, at which we all quickly saluted to.

"Yes Commander!" We all said loudly.

"Ahem, I'll take the floor Shadis," Commander Erwin said with a entertained smirk and patter Shadis on his shoulder, "Afternoon everyone, now, I would like to start off by introducing a few of your high ranking agents, H.R.A's, whom will lead you down the training path for whichever branch you choose, first is this man here who will be main overseer of your training: Commander Keith Shadis, next Commander of the Royal Military Corps: Nile Dok, next Commander of the Garrison Corps: Ian Dietrich, next Commander of the Cultivation Corps: Dita Ness, next Commander of the Repair Corps: Rico Brzenska and last but not least Commander of the Bio Corps-" Commander Erwin introduced our higher ups who all gave some small motion of acknowledgment, however just as he was going to introduce the last woman, she excitedly cut him off.

"Heya! I'm Hanji Zoe! I'll be in charge of getting you fella's and ladies trained for the Bio-Labs, wheeerree we will continue to study and work alongside the CueVas!" The woman name Hanji exclaimed in pure excitement… to which the entire crowd of trainees remained silent at, some even exchanging a few odd glances. Well, what were we supposed to say anyways?

"… They're surprised." Captain Levi said in a bored tone.

"Huuh!? By what?!" Hanji looked down at him, the height difference between them both was almost comical and even more so at how he almost stood on the tips of his toes to grip the top of her head and bring her down to his level.

"You." Captain Levi said and looked her directly in her eyes.

"Alright, alright, that's enough you two." Commander Erwin waved his clip board at them, as though he was witnessing this display for the millionth time.

"Man, what a bunch of weirdo's…" Jean mumbled from beside me.

"Heh, I think it's kinda funny." Krista giggled quietly from the other side of him.

"Christ woman shut up!" Shadis yelled at Hanji, to which she simply stuck her tongue out at him and turned to whisper something to Erwin.

"… I swear, ahem," Commander Erwin cleared his throat after a quick unheard discussion with Miss Hanji, "now, we will start off by separating you all by what branch you want to join, please line up accordingly in front of the Commanders for the branch you have chosen, I hope you have chosen wisely." He continued and scribbled something down.

"One more thing," Captain Levi spoke up just as everyone, but me, begun to move, "something Erwin failed to mention, this training will go on for roughly two months, though I don't agree… in about a month we will have another selection, which means, you will have the chance to change Corps if you are so indecisive." He continued with a bit of a frown at the end and to my surprise looked directly at me… was that supposed to mean something? But even so, with that being said, everyone hesitated slightly before lining up for their branch.

"Hey, Eren, this is kinda good." Armin nudged me, "you could try working with your father first, and if you don't like the lab scene you can change. That's what you had planned on doing from the start after all." He mentioned as though it were such an obvious thing.

"Yeah, but… what if I do and I regret it? I mean, you heard Captain Levi… he didn't seem to like those kinds of people…" I said with my eye fixed on the Captain as he spoke with Commander Erwin, I was still trying to figure out what that look meant.

"Why are you worried about if _he_ like's you or not?" Mikasa asked with an irritated frown… ah, well can't tell her why… at least not now… or ever.

"Uh, heh, you're right," I laughed nervously, "well, then let's hurry over to Miss Hanji then!" I forced a grin and grabbed both of their hands and ran over to stand alongside our other friends Samuel, Franz and his girlfriend Hanna.

"Wow, I gotta say, I'm kinda surprised to see you two over here, not so much Armin though." Samuel laughed and looked pointedly at me and Mikasa.

"Heh, tell me about it." I gave him a half smile and looked across the yard towards Levi, who had his back towards me. Though I would be looking forward to working alongside father, there was a deeper part of me that just wanted to be with him forevermore.

* * *

**A/N**: Watch out! in two weeks you shall have your next chapter! Until next we meet!

\- Anna Uzumaki


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